MILESTONES

Raised by grandmother and aunt after his mother and father died; they told him he was going to be a cameraman, so from the time he was 14, he knew what he wanted to be

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Served in the Coast Guard during World War II, returning home in 1946

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Found himself shut out of The Camera Guild after graduating from USC in 1950; worked as an editor at various television production companies; mustered non-union camera jobs by shooting inserts and stock footage on the fly

1954:

Got start in television, beginning as a loader on the ABC series "The Lone Ranger"

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Spent seven-and-a-half years working on "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" (ABC); credits director-star Ozzie Nelson with helping him rise from second assistant director to camera operator during this time

1956:

Served as camera assistant on "The Young Guns"

1961:

Worked as director of photography on the documentary "Forbid Them Not"

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After becoming an operator, worked with fellow USC alum and cameraman Conrad Hall on the Western "Stoney Burke" (ABC, 1962-1963) and the sci-fi classic "The Outer Limits" (ABC, 1963-1965)

1964:

Was camera operator on "Father Goose"

1965:

Operated camera on three of Hall's first four features as director of photography, "Wild Seed", "Morituri" and "The Professionals" (first collaboration with director Richard Brooks); the latter two earned Hall Oscar nominations

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Lost out on an opportunity to be director of photography on "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) when Jack Warner said, "Any cameraman that has not yet shot a picture is not going to shoot his first picture on my lot"

1967:

Feature debut as director of photography, "Games" (Universal)

1968:

First association with Burt Reynolds, "Fade-In"

1968:

Enjoyed professional and creative turning point with the success of Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" and Peter Yates' "Bullitt", serving as director of photographer on both

1970:

Made feature directorial debut with "Monte Walsh"

1971:

First of five films with director Floyd Mutrux, the semi-documentary "Dusty and Sweets McGee"; also appeared in picture as a big-time drug dealer, as well as being a partner in the Laughlin-Fraker-Mutrux-Michael Production

1971:

Helmed "Reflection of Fear" (released in 1973)

1975:

Reteamed with Mutrux for "aloha, bobby and rose"

1975:

Shot the last 10 days or so of Milos Forman's Academy Award-winning Best Picture "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", after both Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler had worked on it

1976:

Served as cinematographer for Reynolds' feature directorial debut, "Gator"

1977:

First collaboration with Steven Spielberg, shot additional scenes for "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"

1977:

Received first Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography for work on Richard Brooks' "Looking for Mr. Goodbar"

1978:

Third film with Mutrux, "American Hot Wax"

1978:

Earned second Academy Award nomination for "Heaven Can Wait", co-directed by Warren Beatty and Buck Henry

1979:

Received two Oscar nominations for Spielberg's "1941" for Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography

1980:

Fourth film with Mutrux, "The Hollywood Knights"

1981:

Reunited with Reynolds for "Sharkey's Machine"

1981:

Third feature directing project, "The Legend of the Lone Ranger"

1983:

Earned another Oscar nomination for "WarGames"

1984:

First film with director Charles Shyer, "Irreconcilable Differences"

1985:

Second film as director of photography for Brooks, "Fever Pitch"

1985:

Sixth and last Academy Award nomination to date, "Murphy's Romance"

1987:

Was cinematographer on Hugh Wilson's "Burglar"

1987:

Reunited with Shyer on "Baby Boom", starring Diane Keaton

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Worked as director of photography with Hugh Wilson on the CBS series "Frank's Place"

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Directed six episodes of "Wiseguy" (CBS)

1989:

Reteamed with Yates on "An Innocent Man"

1989:

Helmed "The Dancer's Touch" (ABC), the first of 12 TV-movies starring Reynolds as B L Stryker

1990:

First film with director Andrew Bergman, "The Freshman"

1990:

Fifth film with Mutrux, "There Goes My Baby" (released in 1994)

1992:

Reunited with Bergman for "Honeymoon in Las Vegas"

1993:

Served as associate producer and cinematographer on "Tombstone"

1993:

Helmed an episode of "Walker, Texas Ranger" (CBS)

1994:

Served as director of photography on Sandra Locke's ABC movie "Death in Small Doses"; Locke had acted in his "A Reflection of Fear"

1995:

Third feature with Shyer for "Father of the Bride Part II", starring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton

1996:

Along with director John Frankenheimer, signed on for "The Island of Dr Moreau" a week into the scheduled production after the original director and cinematographer left due to creative differences with the studio

1997:

Captured Las Vegas again for "Vegas Vacation"

1999:

Honored by the American Society of Cinematographers with a lifetime achievement award

2000:

Served as director of photography on William Friedkin's "Rules of Engagement", starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L Jackson, and Peter Chelsom's "Town & Country", which reteamed him with Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton